"𝙷𝚘𝚠 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚈𝚘𝚞?"
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ
HOTCH walks into the office the team had made themselves comfortable in and finds Emily sitting at the table alone. He feels bad that the team sort of ganged up on her and debunked her theory so quickly. After Emily left, Hotch and the rest of the team realized that her theory may not be too far out.
"I know that you want to stick up for her—" Hotch begins.
"She doesn't fit the profile, not even a little bit." Emily states.
"We don't really know the profile, yet."
"Then, why did we bring her in?" Emily questions her boss.
"She ran away; that's something." Hotch defends his decision and looks at Emily. He knows exactly what she is thinking.
"I think Reid's right," Hotch says, "I think she has some anger issues. But I also think she was never given a chance to work them out."
"So, you trust me?" Emily asks, shocked.
"I trust you, but I don't trust her. Not yet, at least. Can you talk to her? She thinks you understand her." Hotch asks and sees Emily nod. Deep down, Emily knows that she does genuinely understand the teen.
Emily walks to the interrogation room and opens the door. She takes a seat across from Noah again and notices that the teen subconsciously calms down. She eyes the teen, who blankly stares back at her.
"Noah," Emily sweetly speaks, "I think you know who did this." She tells the teen.
"I don't." Noah insists as she looks away.
"When did he tell you to keep it a secret?" Emily asks, knowing she can get through to the teen.
"What?" Noah asks in a bit of shock.
"You don't have to protect him." Emily calmly talks. Noah looks up at the woman and sees the comfort in her eyes.
"You don't owe him anything, Noah. If he hurt your mother, he deserves to go down for that — not you." Emily says and waits for the teen's response.
"I don't know for sure. He never said anything to me." Noah says in a soft voice.
"Was there anything that your brother was involved in? Anything against the law or dangerous?" Emily asks.
"Not that I know of,"
"Any strange groups or people he hung out with?"
"He did tell me that he was going to these meetings. He wanted me to go with him, but I didn't want to. Something about a meeting with some other kids..." Noah trails off, trying to remember as much as possible.
"Do you know any other kids who were in the group?" Emily questions as she watches Noah try to remember.
"He only told me about his friend, Ethan. I don't know about the other ones, but if this has anything to do with the other women...I can point you to the right people. I think they met at the church on Broker Street." Noah tells the woman.
"I'll be back," Emily says and goes to the observation room.
"I want the older kids of all the victims brought into the station." Hotch tells his team and assigns everyone a kid, "Prentiss and JJ, I need you to bring in Nick."
"On it." JJ confirms and heads out of the building with Emily.
—
𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘨𝘦
"You think he'll make it easy?" Emily asks as her and JJ walk down the hallway of Nick's dorm.
"I don't know, don't you think he'll be wondering where his little sister is?" JJ wonders.
"Well, from the looks of it, I don't think he really cares much." Emily guesses.
"You don't think he ever took care of her?" JJ asks with worry laced in her voice.
"I don't think so."
"I can't imagine an older brother not taking care of his sister." JJ mentions and Emily looks at her with a bit of sadness.
"Well, I took care of myself and I'm fine." Emily defends being an only child, "I think we should call him in about his sister." Emily changes the subject.
"You're saying we trick him?" JJ asks.
"If we have to." Emily says and knocks on the dorm room door.
"Nick Collins! FBI, open up!" Emily shouts. She tries again, but there is no answer. Emily twists the doorknob and finds the door unlocked, "Nick? FBI, we're coming in!" She calls and fully swings open the door. No one is in the room and Nick seems to be gone.
"Think he ran?" JJ asks Emily as they search the room a bit.
"Or he's just out. He is a college kid." Emily states.
"Let's see if Noah has any insight for us." JJ says and pulls out her phone.
"Ask Morgan if he can check out the Collins' house." Emily adds as they walk back to the SUV.
—
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵
"We went to Nick's dorm, he's not there." Emily tells Hotch as the team meets up in the briefing room.
"We checked the house — nothing." Morgan adds as he leans against the table.
"I think we have to use Noah." JJ suggests as she looks at the teen through the glass window.
"I'll see what I can get out of her." Hotch says and calls Prentiss in with him. They both enter the room and immediately have Noah's piercing blue eyes locked on theirs.
"Noah, do you have any idea where your brother would be?" Hotch asks, already asserting dominance. Emily knows that the teen will not respond well to it, but she keeps her mouth shut.
"His dorm?" Noah suggests with a bit of an attitude.
"Anywhere else?" Hotch questions.
"He wouldn't go back to the house, but he might be at the church or something. Or sometimes, him and his friends hang out at this skatepark down the street from school. I'm shocked you couldn't find him, it's past curfew for his dorm." Noah mentions and makes Hotch and Emily share a knowing look.
"I need you to do something for us." Emily says and walks over to Noah. She kneels down in front of the teen and looks up at her.
"I need you to help us find your brother and talk to him." Emily requests.
"Why?" Noah sighs and folds her arms.
"I think that if he talks to you, we might get a confession out of him." Emily says and waits for the teen to respond.
"Okay," Noah agrees.
"Alright, my friend Agent Jareau is gonna prep you, okay?" Emily asks.
"Okay," Noah replies as JJ walks into the room.
"Hi, sweetie, I'm Agent Jennifer Jareau, but you can call me JJ." The blonde sweetly greets the teen.
"Hi," Noah shyly speaks.
"Are you ready?" JJ asks as she sits down.
"Mhm," Noah says as she nods and listens to JJ.
—
Just as JJ finishes prepping Noah, Hotch walks into the interrogation room.
"I need you to give me your best guess on where Nick would be." He demands from the teen.
"The skatepark."
Noah is sure of it.
"Alright," Hotch says, putting his trust in Noah. JJ and Hotch walk back to their team and tell Morgan and Prentiss to look after Noah.
"We're really gonna trust her?" Morgan asks as he and Emily watch the teen through the glass.
"I have no reason not to." Emily replies.
"I don't know, maybe the fact that she might be one of the unsubs." Morgan says with a sarcastic chuckle.
"Morgan, that girl didn't kill her mother. I looked her in the eye and saw the truth when she said she loved her."
"You think you can love someone who abuses you?" Morgan asks.
"I know you can." Emily confidently says and walks into the room, "Noah, you ready?"
"Yeah," The teen nods and walks up to Emily, who she follows out of the building. Morgan opens the backseat of the SUV for the teen and watches her buckle her seatbelt.
"This is gonna be interesting." Morgan mutters to himself.
—
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘬
"She should be ready." JJ says and nods towards Noah, who is leaning against one of the SUVs.
"She looks nervous. Prentiss, will you talk to her?" Hotch asks.
"Yeah," Emily agrees. The brunette makes her way to the teen and sees the teen staring off into space.
"Hey, Noah. Are you okay?" Emily asks and makes the teen snap back to reality.
"Yeah,"
"Here, let me put this on you." Emily says as she holds up a small earpiece. The teen nods and feels Emily turn her around. The woman hooks the battery pack to the teen's shirt and places her long hair over it. Emily turns Noah back around and puts the earpiece into the teen's ear.
"If you need to stop at any point, just say so. We'll be able to hear everything you're saying." Emily reminds Noah.
"Okay," Noah mutters and looks around at all the police and agents.
"You're gonna be okay," Emily reassures her, "All of these people are on your side." She adds and watches the teen nod.
"Alright, I'm gonna tell them you're ready." Emily says and walks over to Hotch.
"Hey, kid." Morgan calls Noah over, "C'mere." He says and pulls an FBI vest out of the trunk of the SUV. He puts it over Noah's shirt and makes sure it is tight. He hands her her quarter zip and watches her perfectly cover the vest.
"I'm not saying you'll need it, but just in case." Morgan explains as he sees the terrified look on Noah's face.
"Thanks." Noah mutters and walks over to Emily and Aaron.
"Do you remember everything I told you?" JJ asks as she joins them.
"Yeah,"
"If you need to stop, tell me. I'll come in." Emily tells Noah and strokes her arm. Noah nods and begins to walk towards the skatepark.
The teen notices that Emily is following her to make sure she is okay. She wordlessly thanks the woman by turning around. Emily reads the teen's look and knows that Noah will be fine. Emily backs off and lets the teen go.
Noah sees Nick at the skatepark alone. She walks up to the fence and walks through the opening. The team watches Noah from the feed of the street cameras around the skatepark.
"What're you doing here?" Nick asks as he turns around to see his little sister.
"I didn't know where else to go." Noah talks as she walks closer to him. Nick kicks up his skateboard and looks down at the teen.
"Got yourself into some trouble?" Nick asks.
"Mom's gone. The social worker's gonna make me go to a different home." Noah lies and knows that Nick is too arrogant to notice.
"So, what? You ran away again?" Nick snaps.
"I haven't done anything bad — I'm not you." Noah states confidently.
"And why would you say that?" Nick questions his sister.
"I know you did this." Noah says and looks up at her brother. The team just then realizes how much bigger Nick is than Noah. If he tries anything, he could seriously hurt her.
"Did what?" Nick asks.
"You hated her." The girl sneers.
"I still do!" Nick bellows as he raises his voice.
"Nick, give it up, she's gone. Not like I have to tell you that." Noah continues to agitate her brother.
"You think she deserved it?" Nick asks.
"I'm not answering that." Noah replies as she looks off into the dark park.
"Why?" Nick challenges his sister.
"Because if I say what I really wanna say...it's gonna sound like I did it." Noah murmurs.
Down the street, the BAU team look around at one another. The way that the siblings talk to each other is sad to hear. They talk so adult-like when, in reality, they should be fighting over who gets to pick what to watch on the TV.
"Didn't you?" Nick asks.
"Why would I?" Noah challenges him back.
"Why wouldn't you come to those meeting with me? Now, you've got yourself tied up in all this trouble!" Nick begins to get angry.
"I'm not the one in trouble!" The girl argues.
"Then, why was the police looking for you?!"
"Because you want me to go down for this. Because you know I'm too smart for your damn tricks!" Noah shouts and stands up, "You really think I'm gonna sit here and let you ruin my life more than you already have?!" Noah fights and stares her brother down.
"I ruined your life?!" Nick yells back.
"Mom was a sick, horrible person. And I didn't come from that. You did! And you're just so jealous of that! You killed Mom because she was always abusive to you and you're framing me because you can't bear that I'm better than you!" Noah shouts, antagonizing Nick, just like JJ told her to.
"You should be thanking me!" Nick shouts and throws his skateboard down.
"How could you?" Noah mutters as she finally gets the truth out of Nick. He did not outright say it, but she knows what he means.
"She was awful to us! You really think she didn't deserve it?!" Nick argues. The team moves in as Nick confesses and see Noah standing with her hands balled into fists.
"I don't think anyone deserves to be stabbed to death by their own son!" Noah shouts, "You told me to go home. You wanted them to catch me."
"Yeah, well you were stupid enough to fall for it." Nick scoffs.
"You bastard!" Noah yells and nearly jumps onto her brother. She grabs onto Nick's collar and yanks him towards her.
"Get her out of there!" Rossi shouts and sends Hotch, Prentiss and Morgan running into the skatepark.
"You asshole!" Noah screams as Nick throws her against the pavement, but she kicks his stomach, sending him back. The teen stands up and punches Nick, getting a good swing in. Nick grabs Noah by the neck and throws her to the ground. Morgan quickly takes Nick down, making him let go of Noah.
"Why did you do it?!" Noah screams as she stands up again.
"You know why!" Nick exclaims as he is held back from his sister.
"She was our mother!" Noah yells as she is being held back by Emily. Noah scratches Emily from violently trying to fight her brother.
"Noah, let it go! He's done!" Morgan exclaims and Emily pulls the girl away from the scene. The woman sends her towards the SUV, where she is met by JJ.
"Noah, sweetie—" JJ attempts to speak, but Noah brushes it off and keeps walking.
"Give her a sec. Her whole family just came crashing down." Emily tells JJ, who looks hurt by Noah's action towards her. They both watch Noah as she stops in the middle of the street.
The teen rips off her pullover and angrily takes off the vest Morgan gave her. She throws it to the ground and balls her fists. Emily and JJ watch as Noah curses until she has gotten most of her anger out. Maybe Spencer was right; she does have an issue with handling anger.
—
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵
Noah is sitting in a chair in the corner, being checked out by a medic. As the doctor finishes up, JJ takes the initiative to talk to the teen.
"She's not responding. She says she's fine and I can't give her a full check-up in front of all these people." The doctor stop JJ as she passes him.
"Is she hurt?" She asks.
"No, she's fine. I told her to ice her eye and cleaned up a few cuts." He tells her and walks away. JJ walks up to the teen and bends down in front of her.
"Noah, sweetie." JJ attempts to make the teen look at her, "Nick is being processed right now. I'm so sorry." She voices her condolences.
"Me too," Noah murmurs and looks around at all the police officers, "Am I in trouble?" She asks JJ.
"No, we're just contacting some people to decide what to do." The blonde tells the teen and puts her hand on her knee, "I will do everything I can to make sure you're well taken care of." She promises and watches Noah nod in response. JJ knows that the girl does not believe her, but she does not expect her to.
—
As the team celebrates their success in catching the unsub, Emily wonders what will happen to Noah. Too worried about the teen, Emily walks out of the briefing room. She sees the girl sitting alone in the corner. She sighs and walks over to give Noah some company.
"Hey," Emily says as she sits down in the chair next to the teen. Noah remains silent, having a lot on her mind.
"If you had nothing to do with it, why didn't you say something about Nick?" Emily wonders out loud.
"I didn't want him to come after me. I didn't want him to do to me what he did to her." Noah explains and looks down at her feet, "Where will I go now?" Noah asks.
"I don't know, sweetie." Emily answers and shakes her head.
"Are they gonna put me in another home?"
"Most likely," Emily mutters, hating that Noah already knew her fate.
"It's better than jail." Noah adds.
"I saw that you kept How To Kill a Mockingbird in your nightstand." Emily says, trying to make small talk with the teen.
"Yeah," Noah mumbles.
"It was the Spanish publication." Emily mentions, "Where'd you learn Spanish?"
"A book." Noah answers and looks up at the woman.
"Really?" Emily asks, impressed.
"Yeah," Noah quietly speaks, "Do you speak any other languages?" Noah questions the woman.
"Spanish, French, Italian, Greek, Arabic, and a little Russian." Emily lists all the languages she can speak.
"Spanish, French, German, and Latin." Noah says with a small smile.
"Hm, Latin?" Emily beams.
"Yeah, technically that one was for school." Noah explains, "I've been wanting to learn Italian, though. My teacher said it's really similar to Latin." She adds.
"Maybe I can help you." Emily chimes and stands up, "Some of the team got some food. Why don't you come eat?"
"I'm not hungry." Noah says and looks away from the woman.
"You haven't eaten today. C'mon." Emily says and holds out a hand.
Noah agrees to the food, but walks past Emily's hand.
"You hungry, sweetie?" JJ asks Noah as she sees her walking into the room with Emily.
"Uhm—"
"Yes, get her as much as she wants." Emily answers for the teen and makes her own plate.
JJ helps Noah pick out what food she wants and tells her to sit anywhere she likes. Feeling gravitated towards Emily, the teen sits next to her on the couch.
"Hey, kid," Morgan says as he sits down at the table, "You were really good in the field." He compliments Noah.
"I just did what JJ told me to." Noah says.
"The youngster gave Reid a run for his money." Morgan jokes.
"I don't think anyone can give Dr. Reid a run for his money." Noah adds and looks over at Reid, who is smiling.
Hotch walks out of the briefing room and Emily quickly jumps up to follow him. She has been wanting to talk to him alone about something.
"Hey, Hotch?" Emily says, "I can take her."
"Who, Noah?" Hotch asks.
"Yeah,"
"Prentiss, she's a troubled teen—"
"Who needs a chance. She deserves to be in a home that she'll be comfortable in. She talks to me and I can tell that she's warming up. Hotch, she needs someone who will look after her. After all this, she's gonna need some sort of therapy or something." Emily fights for the teen as Hotch packs up his stuff.
"And you think the foster system won't give her that?" He asks.
"I know the foster system won't give her that." Emily says with determination. And Hotch knows more than anyone that once Emily wants something, she will get it.
"It's your call." Hotch tells her and begins heading towards the filing room, "And, Emily?"
"Yeah?"
"You'd make a great mother. She'd be lucky to have you." He adds and walks away, leaving Emily with a smile on her face.